There are some things in my fridge that I never finish before they go bad: low fat plain yogurt, whole carrots, cucumbers, and parsley. It's really sad to see these things wilt or mold or do whatever yogurt does (ick) when they were perfectly delicious a few days ago. With that in mind (and with not wanting to venture outside into the -40 with-the-wind-chill out of doors, I set to a little pasta salad experiment. To be fair, this was also motivated by being a bit grossed out by how much mayonnaise we use to make things creamy (feeling a little guilty about my own mayonnaise habit I guess), so I wanted to do it without.

The results were pretty tasty actually, and this dressing would probably be good on roast potatoes or coleslaw.

In a bowl mix together:

½ cup plain yogurt (I used 1% astro brand that went a little watery on me - perfect for this!)

1.5 tbsp whole grain mustard

1.5 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp red pepper flakes

A high protein variation for my workweek! One can
of rinsed black beans, one can of tuna in water, 3 carrots,
6 cups of cooked penne, 3 stalks of celery, 1/2 cup chopped
parsley, and 1/2 cup dressing! Delicious :)

Add about 1.5 tbsp of this dressing to roughly:

3/4 cup cooked cold penne pasta (ideally whole wheat)

1 large carrot, sliced

1/4 cucumber, quartered

optional: 2 tbsp parley, minced (I had some left over from making the dressing, and love parsley...plus it offsets the raw garlic in the dressing, breath-wise)

Season your salad with salt and pepper to taste.

You could easily add any kind of bell pepper, celery, onion, black beans (I suspect this would be delicious), and/or black olives or anything else that's left in your fridge and needs eating. Any other suggestions are very welcome!